


Hermione Evans and the Year of the Wolf

by InsomniacAndBi



Series: Hermione Evans: The Hogwarts Years [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: All generations at Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, F/F, F/M, Good Bellatrix Black, Good Narcissa Black, Hermione Evans, Hermione Has A Crush, Hermione has anxiety, Hermione is Lily's sister, Lesbian Bellatrix Black Lestrange, M/M, Pansexual Narcissa Black, Sane Bellatrix Black, Sexualities, Slytherin Hermione Granger, We Love An Inclusive Space, good black family, talk of sexuality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28194351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacAndBi/pseuds/InsomniacAndBi
Summary: Hermione Evans can only hope that her second year at Hogwarts was calmer than her first year. But, with friends like hers, a calm year was completely out of the questionORHermione Evans returns for her second year, gains a crush, solves a mystery and tries to make sure her friends pass their end of year exams.
Relationships: Amelia Bones/Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks, Hermione Granger/Nymphadora Tonks (unrequited), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Hermione Evans: The Hogwarts Years [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835305
Comments: 41
Kudos: 190





	1. Chapter 1

Hermione yawned as she was pulled onto Marlene's shoulder's and kept lookout for Mary's arrival.

Diagon Alley was unusually busy on the last week before school began and, from where Hermione, Lily, Marlene and Dorcas were standing by Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, the mass of bodies only seemed to increase. 

That morning, Lily had gotten her sister up bright and early to head to the Alley before everybody else. The pair of them had managed to get all of their school supplies the week previous and were only heading to the Alley to meet up with their friends. Dorcas had found them first, coming out of the Quidditch shop with a new broom resting on her shoulder. She had all but dragged them to Fortescue's where they met up with Marlene - who had only just started her shopping.

While they were there, Alice Fortescue - a Gryffindor student who was just starting her fifth year - had served them all free ice cream after making them swear not to tell her father that she had done so. They all agreed and Hermione finished hers in record time as Marlene and Dorcas bickered.

"Careful!" Lily yelled over the din of the crowd," If you drop her Marlene then so help me god-" She let the threat hang and Hermione felt the corners of her lips quirk upwards.

"I'll be fine!" She said back," Besides, Lily, do you want to take my place?"

Lily gaped before she wacked Dorcas and Marlene with a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet. "You've corrupted my sister!" She said loudly," She never used to tease me so much!"

Hermione laughed. "Yes I did - you just always took it as a joke!"

Lily fell silent for a moment, her mouth opening and closing as she spluttered out a few noises that didn't seem to accurately convey what she was thinking. Beside her, Dorcas smothered her laughter while Marlene reached up blindly for Hermione to fist bump her hand.

"D'you see Mary yet, Hermione?" Marlene asked as she jostled her shoulders slightly and caused Hermione to jump.

She scanned the area. "Yeah!" She exclaimed," She's over by Gringotts."

Marlene nodded as she tightened her grip on Hermione's legs. "Well then," She said with a crooked grin that Hermione couldn't see," Hold on tight!"

They were off at lightning speed and Marlene expertly weaved around shoppers with the grace of an angel even as she carried Hermione on her shoulders, leaving Lily and Dorcas to stumble after them - yelling profanities as they went. From her vantage point as Marlene ran, Hermione was able to see everything that was happening in the alley. She watched as Draco and Lucius Malfoy entered Madam Malkins with looks of scorn on their inbred faces. She saw James and Peter rolling their eyes as Sirius ran up to Remus outside of the joke shop and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"Hey, Mary," Marlene said as she helped Hermione climb down from her shoulders once they had skidded to a stop.

Mary, thoroughly amused, shook her head in exasperation. "Hello, Marlene, Hermione. Good holiday?"

Marlene nodded. "It was excellent," She said," Dad took us to New Zealand."

Mary smiled," And you, Hermione?"

She shrugged. "So-so," She said," Lily wouldn't stop talking."

"Sounds about right!" Marlene laughed," Oh, here they come."

Dorcas and Lily were both panting as they approached. Dorcas was grinning, Lily was not.

"You can't just take off like that!" Lily exclaimed," Hermione could have fallen!"

"I would have dragged Marlene down with me," Hermione replied and Dorcas burst into laughter, moving to ruffle Hermione's hair fondly.

"I bet you would!"

"You bet who would do what?" A prim voice from behind had them all whirling around.

Hermione's face split into a smile when she saw Andromeda Black standing at the entrance of Gringotts - dressed in expensive dark blue robes and holding a bag of Galleons in her hand. Next to her, sporting a similar unimpressed look on her face, was her younger sister - Narcissa. She had filled out a bit over the Summer, now looking like a proper young lady of a noble house. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a complicated braid that both her sisters and Hermione were often seen wearing at Hogwarts. Her robes were similar in style to Andromeda's but they were a shade of green that practically screamed Slytherin pride.

"Andi! Cissa!" Hermione said as she broke away from Lily and her friends and pulled them both into a hug that was happily returned by both of them. Narcissa was beaming when she pulled away - which was a rare feat in and of itself because she was often seen as an Ice Queen by everybody else - before she frowned slightly when she took in Lily's friendship group. Her eyes met Dorcas' and they both stared at each other for a moment before blushing red and turning away.

"Meadowes," Narcissa said in greeting, giving the other girl a polite nod," I thank you for the book that you set along - I highly enjoyed it."

By the look on Andromeda's face, Hermione knew that she would be treated to quite the story when the pair of them alone.

Dorcas - equally red faced - replied," Of course, Black. I'm glad that you liked it - it's one of my favourite."

They both nodded awkwardly at each other and refused to look anywhere but the floor.

"Right," Andromeda said," Moving on from _whatever_ that was, Hermione, do you want to come with us today? Mother and Father have taken us out to buy our school things."

Hermione turned to Lily. "Can I?" She asked," Please?"

Lily just nodded. "Meet me back here at four - we still need to get home."

Hermione grinned. "Thanks Lily!" She said, reaching forward to pull Lily into a quick hug before she slotted herself easily between Narcissa and Andromeda.

"So," Hermione said as they headed into Gringotts where the rest of the family were," What was that about a book?"

Narcissa - who had only just returned to her normal colour - blushed bright red again and cleared her throat. She shot Andromeda a warning glare before throwing her hands up in the air when Andromeda grinned deviously and opened her mouth.

"Well," Andi said, ignoring the glare that her sister sent her way," Cissy, out of nowhere, I might add, got this book of Sappho poems owled to her. So, naturally, of course, I went through her letters - stupid Cissy for not burning them as soon as she got them. Anyway, I started to look through them and-" 

Andi shrieked as Narcissa swatted at her shoulder. Hermione took that as Cissa was too embarrassed to continue the conversation so she didn't push it anymore. Instead she said," Where's Bella?"

"Sweet Circe," Narcissa said, breaking away from her sister and tossing her hair over her shoulder," Bella was a mess over the Summer - she's grounded."

"Grounded," Hermione echoed, eyebrows raised in confusion," So, is she here or not?"

Narcissa put a hand over her heart and gasped dramatically. "Are you saying that you hang out with us because of Bella? I see how it is."

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it," Hermione replied, wrinkling her nose in annoyance and crossing her arms over her chest while a small part of her felt her stomach sink in horror. An even smaller part of her brain began to respond by drawing up every far fetched conclusion it could make.

_What if I just offended them?_

_What if they don't want me around because they think I favour Bella?_

_What if they don't let me room with them this year?_

_What if-_

The pulsing of the mokeskin pouch around her neck had Hermione snapping out of her thoughts long enough to see Narcissa's teasing smile. She breathed a small sigh of relief as she felt Andromeda's hand on her shoulder - a comforting and grounding pressure.

"Bella's here," Andi said as they continued walking," It's the first time she's been let out the house in week - Mother found her dirty porn magazines under her bed. She burnt them in the living room." Andromeda shuddered. "I never want to see a woman's cleavage ever again."

"That's because you're _straight,"_ Bella said in disgust from behind them," You would never be able to admire a woman's voluptuous breasts anyway."

Hermione and Narcissa exchanged a look of horror at hearing 'voluptuous breasts' leaving Bellatrix's mouth. Andromeda turned a sickly shade of green before she replied," Each to their own. Personally, they're not for me."

Bellatrix scoffed. "That's because you don't have taste." She turned to Hermione before scooping the girl up into her arms. "It's good to see you, Mia! I was planning on charming a car to fly so we could go and steal you this Summer."

Hermione laughed awkwardly as she tapped Bella's arms to get her to put her down. "Well," She said as she straightened out her clothes," I'm glad that you didn't. I'm pretty sure that somebody would have called the police if they saw a flying car."

Bella scoffed. "Of course, I'd make it invisible - can't have any Muggles seeing me kidnap you."

"Who exactly would you be kidnapping while grounded Bellatrix?"

The four of them turned around and Bellatrix's voice rose a few of octaves until it was a high pitched squeak instead of her normal voice. "Mother!" She said," I was just- That is to say that...It's really-"

Druella Black held up her hand for silence. "Enough," She said wearily and Hermione got the impression that she had been having similar conversations with her eldest daughter since Summer began and, with Bellatrix, Hermione wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Druella sighed as she dropped a bag of Galleons into Narcissa's hand before she reached into her pocket for another one - this time, offering it to Hermione.

"Oh no," Hermione said quickly," I can't accept that - I got all of my school stuff last week."

Druella, as per usual, didn't accept Hermione's refusal and pressed the sack of gold into the girl's hand. "Oh don't be silly," She chastised lightly," Every girl should have a bit of spending money. Use it to buy some books, okay? At least one of my daughters will use her money wisely."

Bella, Andi and Cissa made noises of outrage.

* * *

Gilderoy Lockhart, in Hermione's opinion, was a massive idiot and she couldn't understand how so many people swooned at the sight of him. Her year spent living in the dungeons taught her many things - one of which was that everybody had a mask that they showed people and, if you were smart, you should be able to see through it. Everybody had a tell - something that revealed that they weren't as perfectly put together as everybody thought.

Lockhart's tell was his books.

In amongst the frivolous language and the bullshit, were glaring inconsistences between books.

The timeline just didn't add up and Hermione refused to entertain somebody who thought that his books were good enough to be used in class.

She sighed, shaking her head as she followed the Black family into Flourish and Blotts.

It was just her luck that it was today that Lockhart was signing books. She already couldn't stand him with his too-bright-to-be-real smile and his obnoxious way of speaking.

"Whoa!" Hermione said as she bumped into somebody - too lost in her thoughts to properly look where she was going. "Crap, are you okay?" Her mind jumped into overdrive as she hastily helped the person up.

It was girl. She looked to be about eleven with ginger hair and bright eyes - her face flushed in embarrassment. "Yeah," She said," Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't mean to bump into you."

"No, no," Hermione said quickly," It was my fault, truly. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Evans - I suppose you deserve to know the name of the girl that bumped into you."

The girl's face turned from embarrassed to filled with awe. "Hermione Evans, really?" She asked," As in Ron's friend, Hermione? The Muggleborn in Slytherin?"

"Er, yeah?" Hermione asked. She was confused for a moment before it all clicked into place. She looked over the girl's features again. "Ginny, right? Ron's sister?"

"Oh, yeah, I am," The girl - Ginny - said, a little shyly," I'm getting ready for my first year at Hogwarts. Ron talked about you a lot over the Summer. It's nice to meet you."

"You as well, Ginny."

They shook hands as another two red heard headed towards them. Hermione surmised that this was Arthur Weasley and his Hogwarts sweetheart, Molly Prewett.

"Well," Hermione said as she watched the pair approach," I best be off - it was nice to meet you, Ginny. I suppose that I'll see you around at school then?"

"Oh yeah!" Ginny said quickly," Yeah you will! I'll see you there?"

"Count on it," Hermione replied.

* * *

Her fingers bounced across the spines of the books on the second floor of the bookstore.

Below her, she could see Bella's annoyed face as she waited in line to buy the books she needed for school. Usually, this type of thing only took ten minutes but, with Lockhart demanding to sign all books that were written by him, it was taking longer than expected.

Hermione was glad that she had already gotten her school books - she didn't think that she could stand having to wait in the queue.

After saying a swift goodbye to Ginny, Hermione had headed up to the second floor of the store, towards the history section. Something was bugging her. Specifically, it was what Dumbledore had told Harry near the end of the school year. He had mentioned a 'great foe' but hadn't elaborated. While Harry may have forgotten about it, Hermione certainly hadn't, so here she was, pouring over history books because, quite frankly, she couldn't count on Professor Binns telling her anything of use even if she did ask him.

Her fingers skipped over another book just as her mokeskin necklace pulse unexpectantly.

Hermione quirked her head to the side as she pulled the book from the shelf.

It was old and battered and looked to be more at home at the Hogwarts Library than Flourish and Blotts. She turned it over in her hand a few times before she flipped it over to read the summary.

 _Have you ever wanted to learn about the greatest Dark Wizards in the history of the Wizarding World?  
_ _The book complies are comprehensive, chronological list of the greatest Dark Witches and Wizards. From  
_ _Herpo The Foul in Ancient Greece to Owle Bullock of Middle Ages England._

_This book also contains such colourful Dark Mages such as:  
Emeric the Evil  
Gellert Grindelwald  
Corrine Cribb  
And  
Niko Nenad_

Hermione flipped it over again.

It didn't look that special but none of the other books seemed to be interesting enough so Hermione tucked the blue cover under her arm and went back to browsing.

"Well, well, well."

Hermione rolled her eyes at the obnoxious voice from behind her. She had spent enough time in the Common Room last year to recognise - what Bella had dubbed as - the 'Malfoy Drawl'. So, it was hardly a surprise when she turned around and saw the familiar face of Draco Malfoy and his older brother standing at the top of the stairs.

She plastered on the fakest smile she could muster and made her voice annoyingly innocent - just to get under their skin. "Malfoys," She said," I would say that it was a pleasure to see you again but then I'd be lying."

Lucius' lips curled up into an ugly sneer - one that Draco, ever the follower, hastened to copy. "How dare you speak to me, you filthy little Mudblood!"

Hermione just heaved an uninterested sigh that she had seen Narcissa give the boy before. "Better a Mudblood," She said even though the insult felt bitter on her tongue," Then a prejudiced, in-bred nuisance. Forgive me if I'm wrong, _Lucius,_ but your parents are cousins, yes?"

She watched with smug satisfaction when Lucius slowly grew red, with Draco following after. Both of them seemed to struggle with a response so resulted to whipping their wands out instead, pointing them at Hermione with anger swirling in their eyes.

"Take it back!" Lucius demanded, advancing one step.

Hermione took a step back. 

Knots formed in her stomach and she duck her nails into the palms of her hands in an attempt to stay grounded.

There was a good possibility that she would get knocked out (or murdered, depending on how vindictive Lucius was feeling) and her body would be hidden somewhere unsavoury - like Knockturn Alley.

"Now, now boys," A man said as he walked up the stairs," What have I told you about cornering ladies?"

Hermione glanced at the man. His presence did nothing to sooth her worry. 

Abraxas Malfoy was a copy of his sons (or where they a copy of him?) with slicked back, platinum blonde hair and dark grey eyes. He was dressed head to toe in inky black robes and his face was pulled back in a cruel smile that made Hermione feel like a trapped animal with her back up against the wall and nowhere to escape to.

"And who," He said, appraising her as his eyes flicked over her very Muggle attire," Are you exactly?"

"Hermione Evans." She thanked the heavens that her voice didn't betray how on edge she was, hands shaking from where they were clasped behind her back - knuckles white and nails causing slight pain to shoot up her arms.

"Evans?" The man tasted her last name on his tongue," Ah yes - Lucius and Draco have told me all about you." He sneered down at her and Hermione swallowed thickly. There was no doubt in her mind that the things his sons had told him weren't flattering at all. It only solidified in her mind that Lucius and Draco Malfoy were bigoted slime balls.

"The first Mudblood Slytherin in almost one hundred years," Abraxas continued. Hermione knew that he could see how uncomfortable she was feeling as he took a step towards her - leering at her with his top lip curled upward. She had expected nothing more from somebody who raised Lucius and Draco - although, sometimes, Hermione wished she was wrong about such things. "Oh, how you taint Slytherin House."

"Leave the girl alone," Cygnus Black said as he joined them all on the upper level of the store, pushing past the man and his sons and standing next to Hermione," I thought that you had outgrown your bullying days Abraxas. I'm sad to see that you haven't."

"She is a Mudblood, Cygnus," Abraxas scoffed, straightening his spine and frowning at Hermione with judging eyes," Muggle born and raised."

Cygnus rested his hand on her shoulder. "She is Ward of House Black," He said sternly," You would do well to remember that. A slight towards Hermione is a slight against my House."

Abraxas' lip curled upwards in disgust. "Well then," He sneered," Here's hoping that you can beat the Muggle out of her."

Cygnus' eyes went hard and the hand on Hermione's tightened ever so slightly. "It would do you some good, _Abraxas,"_ He said," To not speak of things that you do not understand."

"Boys," The other man said," Let's go - it wouldn't do for people of our breeding to continue talking with such filth."

Hermione watched them leave and ignored her thoughts of hexing them with their backs turned. Instead, she turned to look at Cygnus. "Did you mean it?" She asked," About me being your Ward?"

Cygnus smiled at her. "Of course - you've been my Ward since I first met you, unofficially, of course. At this point, it's just a bunch of paperwork that we need to fill out together."

Hermione titled her head to the side. "Is being a Ward like being sponsored?" 

"Similar," Cygnus replied," Think of it more like this. After your sister graduates, the Mckinnons are planning to sponsor her. Any good that she does after that causes their family to look good because they are the ones that gave her the money to do it. Being a Ward, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated. In essence, in the eyes of the Ministry, you are my legal responsibility. Myself and Druella would be your Magical Guardians. You would be inducted into the House of Black as a full member," He lowered his voice with a smile," But feel free to keep your name, if you wish. I don't think that Druella would ever be able to let you go if you took on the name Black."

Hermione smiled as if he hadn't just offered a twelve year old the chance of a lifetime that only a noble Gryffindor would choose to say no to - and that would only be because they wouldn't want to be a burden. Gryffindors had always been incredibly self-righteous people and Hermione, while embodying certain characteristics, was a far cry from the perfect Gryffindor. Her grandmother had always told her to grab life's opportunities by the reins and only let go when she was satisfied. "Thank you," Hermione said softly," I would love to be your Ward."

Cygnus nodded and smiled back at her. "Then it will be done," He vowed," Come along now, you can buy yourself that book and then we'll finish our shopping and I'll get the family lawyer to owl you the papers you need to sign."

* * *

The last week of the holidays went by quickly but the book that she had bought was left in the bottom of her trunk.

It wasn't that Hermione had forgotten about it but she was a tad preoccupied with other things to properly read it rather than the hasty skim through she had given to it at Flourish and Blotts. She spent much of her last week at home keeping the peace between her two sisters and struggling through the multitude of French letters that Narcissa had sent her way - one everyday, although some days had two being sent to the house. It was hard work but she was beginning to get a better grasp on the language - although the French Howler that had woken up the house at three in the morning two days before they were to be board the Hogwarts Express was most unwelcome.

But, regardless of all that, Hermione could think of no better place to be than at the Slytherin table during the first feat of the year.

"I'm telling you!" Bellatrix was saying to Andromeda opposite her," This is the year that I finally get Amelia Bones to notice me! I'll dazzle her with the Black Family Charm!"

Andi rolled her eyes at her sister and Narcissa sent a glance to the Hufflepuff table - where Amelia Bones was completely ignoring her sister as Bella tried to blow her a few flirtatious kisses.

Hermione rolled her eyes before she continued to load up her plate with food - less food than her companions but more than usual so she was counting it as a win - and let her eyes sweep over the teacher's table.

Her fork was halfway to her mouth when she froze.

"Mia?" Regulus, who was sitting on her left, asked when he noticed that she had stopped eating," You okay? D'you want me to get you out of here?"

Regulus was good like that.

He was quite intuitive when it came to Hermione's emotions. Last year, he often appeared in the Common Room moments before Hermione began a downwards spiral and spirited her away on some kind of adventure that knocked her out of her depressing thoughts. Sometimes, he would be waiting for her outside of her class out she had a test and he would sneak into the kitchens and they would eat and talk about the test in the Common Room - because," _Really Hermione, Binns hasn't changed his test question in almost sixty years!_ ".

"Forgive me if I'm wrong," Hermione's word were slow and measured and Regulus turned his attention to the teacher's table as well," But is that Lockhart?"

"Kill me now," Regulus groaned," None of us are going to learn anything."

Andromeda had noticed him as well and was scowling. "Father isn't going to be happy."

"Uncle Cygnus is never happy," Regulus pointed out.

"Yes, well he's going to be even less happy when he finds out that Dumbledore has hired that twit," Andromeda said.

"Give him a chance," Narcissa said as she piled a large spoonful of mashed potato onto Hermione's plate without invitation," If anything, it'll be easy to pass this year."

"I don't need a class that's easy to pass," Andi continued," I need an actual teacher who is able to actually teach me for my NEWTs. That twit is hardly able to tell the difference between a ghost and a banshee."

Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile on her face as Andromeda continued her rant.

It was good to be back at Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't know what you said to Ginny," Ron said on Monday morning as they headed to their first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson of the week," But she's just about stopping herself from worshipping the ground you walk on."

Hermione sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. "What did I say?" She asked," The better question is, what did _you_ say? I bumped into her at Flourish and Blotts and she just went red and started stuttering at me. What did you say to her?"

Ron just shrugged. "No idea," He replied," I just told her that you singlehandedly helped me pass last year's tests - I left out the whole-" He glanced around and lowered his voice," Forbidden Forest thing. She doesn't know anything about that."

Hermione sighed. "Then I have no idea why she's so attached," She said back, sidestepping a group of First Years who were bumbling down the corridor - no doubt, confused as to where they were going. Hermione didn't envy them - she was very glad that she remembered her way around the castle. She smothered her yawn as she took the familiar route from Charms to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

She was struck dumb in the doorway for a moment before she shuffled to find a seat next to Daphne.

The classroom had been changed since last year and it looked horrid.

Everywhere she looked was the smiling face of Professor Lockhart - his too-white-to-be-real teeth gleaming in each portrait. She shivered in disgust at them and before turning to greet Daphne.

"How were the holidays?" She asked as they waited for their useless professor to arrive.

"Boring," Daphne groaned," You wouldn't believe how many times Father made me keep Astoria company - she's so annoying."

"Astoria?" Hermione echoed," That's your sister, right?"

Daphne nodded. "Yeah," She said," She'll be coming here next year. All she wanted me to do all Summer was show her spells. I could hardly get out of bed without her badgering me!"

Hermione's lips quirked upwards. "Badgering, huh?" She teased," A little Hufflepuff then?"

Daphne let out a bark of laughter and jokingly swatted Hermione on the arm. "As if!" She laughed," Astoria knows what she wants and how to get it. She's probably a better Slytherin than me!"

They both burst out laughing at that and Hermione allowed a warm feeling to settle in her bones. She had missed Daphne's presence during her time at home and her friend's letters were always few and far between. It felt good to be laughing with Daphne again, who flashed her a grin and launched into a story about her shoving Astoria into the estate pond when she grew impatient with her sister's talking.

Pansy - who had taken the seat in front of them after strolling in five minutes after the bell - turned around to ask something before she fell silent.

Lockhart breezed into the classroom with a smile on his face and hush descended. Hermione tried not to roll her eyes when she saw Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown sigh in awe at the sight of him.

"Sorry I'm late chaps," He said," I was just with Professor Sprout, explaining the right way to prune the Whomping Willow! Now though, I don't want you all running out with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is but I've met several of those exotic plants on my travels. Now, enough of that-"

Daphne rolled her eyes and hissed at Hermione," I think not. There's only two of those in existence, the one here and the one in a grove in Brazil - nobody's allowed to go there."

"- For those of you who don't know, although I can't understand why you wouldn't, I am Professor Gilderoy Lockhart." He walked to the front of the room and picked up one of the books that was resting on Neville Longbottom's table. The picture version of him smiled. "Order of Merlin, Third Class. Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League. Five time Winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award."

From the other side of the classroom, Hermione watched as Ron mocked Lockhart behind his back - making all kinds of silly faces - and she smothered her laugh. Daphne scoffed as well and Pansy rolled her eyes but, apart from that, their reactions weren't visible to people that didn't know them properly.

"Now," Lockhart continued with his stupid smile," I see that you've all bought a set of my complete works and, yes, before you ask, I did do them all. I know! I just keep getting better."

"Unlikely," Daphne murmured to Hermione and they both exchanged a look.

It seemed that every great Pureblood House worth their prestige knew that Lockhart was nothing but a fraud.

"Now though," He continued," I've prepared a little test - just to check how much has sunk in." The test papers were handed out at record speed and with a very dramatic (and unneeded) flourish of his arms, Lockhart said," You have twenty minutes - begin!"

Hermione almost groaned when she saw the questions on her paper and briefly wondered if she would ever have to deal with somebody as narcissistic as Lockhart ever again.

_1\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s favourite colour?_

_2\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart’s secret ambition?_

_3\. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart’s greatest achievement to date?_

She narrowed her eyes at the questions before hurriedly leafing through the rest of the test paper. It covered the front and back of three pieces of parchment and went up to fifty-four questions. Next to her, she saw Daphne giving the test the same scrutiny she was. In fact, most of the class seemed to be doing the same - having only just realised the class was going to be less Defence Against the Dark Arts and more 'A-Crash-Course-In-Anything-Gilderoy-Lockhart'.

For a fleeting second, Hermione wondered if she would be able to get herself admitted into the hospital wing via blunt force trauma from hitting herself over the head with one of Lockhart's horrific books. But, she realised as her stomach knotted slightly, it would have been more trouble than it was worth. Andi would, no doubt, become a helicopter sister (was that the sibling version of a helicopter parent (?), Hermione wasn't too sure) and then Lily would go into overprotective mode - which they had only just moved past that during the holidays.

So, instead, Hermione took the test - albeit begrudgingly.

The exams were taken back in twenty minutes later and a self-marking quill began to mark them as Lockhart stood in front of the class with that stupid smile on his face.

"Do you think that we'll actually learn something now?" Daphne murmured as Lockhart started to read out a passage from one of his book - neither girl had paid attention to which one it was.

"Doubt it."

They were right, of course, as Lockhart's lesson was less about learning anything and more about watching him have their classmates re-enact passages of his horrid books.

In a twisted turn of events, he had attempted to get Pansy involved. She had stared him down and told him, in no uncertain terms, that if her ever called upon her to answer ever again she would jam her wand up his nose and attempt to find his brain with it. Any sensible teacher would have given her detention for at least a week but it seemed that, in addition to being a fraud, Lockhart was also a coward.

He paled dramatically and Hermione had to smother her laugh. A grown man had been intimidated by a twelve year old girl.

Lockhart nodded at Pansy before clearing his throat and continuing on with his sad excuse of a class.

"I thought that you said he was a prat!" Ron hissed as they all left the lesson, having just been given back their test papers and dismissed for breaktime," I saw your paper! You got everything right!"

"He _is_ a prat," Hermione said as she continued walking," But it just so happens that I have a photographic memory - it's practically impossible for me to forget something even if I tried. Besides," She shrugged," Even if he is a prat, it's not going to stop me from passing the class. In fact, it's probably going to be even easier now that an idiot like him is in charge of the subject."

* * *

Hermione snuck away from Bella and Andi after dinner and easily found the familiar path towards the library. She shouldered her bag and rolled her shoulders - weighed down slightly by the extra book that she had brought with her. She still hadn't read it - too distracted by class and seeing her friends again to find a nice spot to sit down and read for a few hours. A part of her was annoyed at her complete lack of motivation to do anything but the other, more overwhelming part of her, reminded herself that it was natural for her motivation to leave her random times. It was healthy for her not be reading all of the time even if she did not like it.

However, Hermione still sighed as she turned the corner towards the second floor staircase that she needed to use to get to the library. She was too lost in her own thoughts to notice the other person - equally stuck in their own head - that came walking around the corner.

They collided head on and both of them went sprawling to the floor.

Hermione rubbed her head and winced slightly. She hurriedly grabbed her bag and checked through it before breathing out a sigh of relief when she found out that nothing had broken - not that they would have. Her bag had been a gift that Bella had sent along in the summer and was full of anti-breaking spells and protective wards that had been woven into the fabric. Nothing would have broken but it helped to quell the unwelcome stomach knots that had begun to form.

But, thankfully, everything in her bag was still in the correct compartments and none of her inkwells had broken and covered her notes in ink.

"Ow," The other person groaned and Hermione was on her feet as soon as she heard it. She quickly glanced around the area for anybody watching, face flush with embarrassment, before she held her hand out for the other person to take.

It was girl, about her height - although she may have been slightly taller, Hermione couldn't really tell from the way the girl was sprawled out on the stone floor. She didn't recognise her that well either. The back of her mind supplied that this girl was in her year group but, judging by the Hufflepuff tie and the fact that Hermione had only had classes with the Gryffindors last year, they hadn't ever interacted before.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione apologised quickly as she helped the girl to her feet. 

The girl - whose hair had just gone several shades of purple before settling on pink - just grinned and shrugged lazily.

"It's fine," She said, shoving her hands into her pockets," You'd be surprised by how often this happens to me - I'm quite clumsy."

Hermione just nodded mutely - still frozen in shock about how the girl's hair had _changed colours._

"Er..." Hermione said. Not many things left her speechless but it seemed that colour changing hair was going to be the thing that did.

The girl cocked her head to the side for a moment in conclusion before Hermione mimed pointing at her hair. Then, a look of realisation clouded her features and she grinned again. "Oh?" She said," That? Yeah, sorry about that. I'm a...er, I think McGonagall called it a Metamorphmagus? Yeah, Metamorphmagus - that's what's it called."

"Oh, right." Hermione didn't really know the correct response to that or even what a Metamorphmagus was - something that would be rectified in the coming week.

"Yeah," The girl said, still grinning like a fool," Pretty cool - right? Oh, crap, where's my manners? I'm Tonks by the way - Nymphadora Tonks but don't call me Nymphadora or I'll have to take drastic measures."

Hermione couldn't help the soft bark of laughter that escaped her. "Any relation to Ted Tonks?" She asked.

The girl - Nymphadora or...Hermione would have to think of a nickname - nodded. "You know him?"

"Not really," Hermione replied," My frien- My sister has a crush on him."

"Your sister?"

"Kind of - or she will be, sort of. It's complicated," She said," Andromeda Black?"

"Oh!" Nym- Dora, Hermione settled on Dora as a nickname. "Yeah, yeah - Ted talks about her a lot." She cocked her head to the side. "You're her sister?" She hummed for a moment before her face lit up. "You're not the blonde one, and you're not the older one which means that you're Hermione, right? Hermione Evans?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied - struck dumb again at the fact that Tonks knew her name.

"Well," Dora said," It's nice to meet you - see you around, yeah? I think Hufflepuffs share Herbology with the Slytherins this year. See you in class, then?"

"Yeah," Hermione said," I'll see you Herbology."

She only realised that the knots in her stomach had turned into butterflies when Tonks started to walk away, waving over her shoulder as she went.

* * *

The Room of Wisdom welcomed Hermione with a warm fire and a comfortable chair. She curled up on it quickly, placing her bag on the table nearby. The Room also summoned a blanket that draped itself over Hermione's lap as she reached for the book that she had been putting off reading. She turned it over in her hands a few times before flicking through it.

There was an introduction - written in looping letters that looked more like chicken scratch than anything else - which Hermione skipped after coming up short on how to read it. 

Each person had a profile that was several pages long and Hermione didn't know whether or not the correct reaction to their feats would be horror or awe. They each did horrible things, crossing the line between Dark Magic and Light Magic (wherever that line was though, Hermione wasn't too sure) but each of those things were amazing in the sense that they had never been done to the extent before.

There was Herpo the Foul - who created the first Horcrux. Hermione wasn't sure what a Horcrux was but the book made it clear that it was a vessel of dark magic not to be trifled with. There was Emeric the Evil - a short lived but aggressive dark wizard who had died at the hands of Egbert the Egregious during a duel for the mastery of some odd thing called the Elder Wand. Hermione didn't really pay much attention to whatever that was. There was also some man called Niko Nenad, who had charmed a whole forest as a revenge for being kicked off of a Quidditch team - which Hermione knew was a bit too overly dramatic for her.

The 'great foe' that Dumbledore had mentioned couldn't have been any of them - seeing as they had lived so long ago that they were dead. 

Hermione leafed through the book again, searching for anything that could be of use.

Only two other profiles stood out to her.

There was Corrine Cribb. She was a woman who dabbled in illegal cross-breeding of magical creatures. Apparently, she was known for her hair-trigger temper and her easy use of Dark Curses. She was also known to still be alive (which meant a good deal more to Hermione than the many dead men that the book had covered) but her exact whereabouts were unknown - with the book speculating that she had gone underground in Romania or Bulgaria.

The other profile that drew Hermione's attention was the one about Gellert Grindelwald. Not much had been said about him and there were several references to other historical texts that Hermione realised she should probably have to read to get an idea of the big picture. But, from what she gathered from the five pages of information on him, Grindelwald sought to remove Muggles from positions of power in the world and rule over them - thus ending the Statute of Secrecy and exposing the wizarding world for all to see. The thing that Hermione found funny though, was that Grindelwald had no problems with Muggleborns or those of creature descent - even though many of his followers were against them. The book also wrote that he was still alive - although imprisoned in Nurmengard, wherever that was.

Hermione sighed and closed the book.

A laugh from behind had her turning around.

"Professor," She said," I did not-"

"Oh, it is fine," Dumbledore said with a smile," I am glad somebody other than the Weasley twins is using this place - not many students find it during their stay at Hogwarts."

"But you did, Sir?"

"Why, yes, Miss Evans - I did." He glanced around the room with a fond look on his face. "I find it the best kind of place for an afternoon nap," He leaned forward slightly," I have to say though, bookshelf number nine was always my favourite - it holds so many history books."

* * *

Hermione didn't know what had triggered her sudden and crashing awakening after the first day of lessons. She sat up in bed and stretched - her stomach in knots and twisting uncomfortably. Briefly, she mentally went through her day for anything that could have unnerved her enough to wake up in the middle of the night for the first time in a months.

Crookshanks mewed softly as the movement on the bed and flicked his tail onto Hermione's shoulder in help before settling back down on the bed. The mokeskin pouch around her neck pulsed slightly before she got too deep into her own mind with overthinking every small thing that had happened during the day.

Hermione took a deep breath before lighting the candle on her bedside table. It flickered slightly and filled the room with amber light - reflecting onto the cover of the book that she had bought from Flourish and Blotts. She stared at it for a moment longer before pushing back her blankets.

The stone was cold under her bare feet but Hermione chose to ignore it as she walked across the dorm room. Crookshanks followed her after a moment of hesitation. His footsteps were near silent as he pressed his body into Hermione's ankles as a show of solidarity and comfort. Hermione appreciated it and stopped mid-step to crouch down and give her cat some appreciate strokes.

She straightened up again and continued to cross the space between her bed and Narcissa's.

She could have easily just gone to Andi and Bella's beds but Hermione chose Narcissa this time. She wasn't entirely sure why but her feet closed the short distance between their beds with Crookshanks trailing behind her - his tail occasionally swishing against her legs to remind her that he was there.

"Cissa?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke and for a fleeting moment, she wondered if Narcissa would sleep through the noise - like she did with everything else.

Thankfully though, Narcissa opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times. "Mia?" Her voice was scratchy and still hoarse with sleep. "What's going on?"

"Can-Can I sleep with you tonight?" Hermione asked - still not raising her voice from a whisper. A part of her wanted Narcissa to not hear her while the other, much bigger, part of her prayed that Narcissa wasn't so sleepy that she completely ignore her request.

Narcissa yawned for a moment and stretched her body out.

There was silence for a moment before the covers were pulled back and one of Narcissa's pillows were thrown to the foot of her bed.

"The cat sleeps there," She said softly," Hurry up - it's cold."

Hermione slipped into bed next to her without anymore prompting. Narcissa yawned again before wrapping one arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulling her into a more comfortable position before reaching for her wand to extinguish the flame on the other side of the room.

Hermione smiled softly before placing her head on one of Narcissa's many pillows and drifting back off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"I want it to shoot out fireworks when you open it!" James exclaimed as they all crowded around the piece of parchment.

"Don't be so stupid, James," Sirius hissed," We need it to be cool. Shooting out fireworks every time that we used it would so not be cool! Besides, what if we need to be stealthy? The fireworks won't help!"

"Fine," James grumbled, reaching out blindly for some of the chocolate that Peter had snuck out of the kitchens," Peter, mate, these are amazing! How'd you manage to get the house elves to give you these?!"

Peter shrugged. "I just asked," He said," It's not that difficult."

James opened his mouth to respond - no doubt to complain about how the house elves never gave him any food when he asked - but Sirius cut him off. "Yeah, yeah," He said," We get it - Peter is amazing at getting house elves to do his bidding. We should be talking about more important things!"

"Such as?"

"Such as, _James,_ how the bloody hell we're supposed to enchant this sodding piece of parchment?!"

They all peered down at it. 

It was less one piece of parchment and more many pieces of parchment stuck together to make a huge fold out map or, at least, the beginnings of what would soon be a map. A floor plan of the castle had been sketched onto it a few days ago by Remus - before he had started to get sick due to the closeness of the full moon. It included every place that they had found - all of the secret passages; all of the corridors; all of the classrooms and all of the offices.

That had been the easy part and now, as Sirius joined Remus' side and pulled his boyfriend to cuddle into his side, the four of them were at a bit of a loss on where to go next.

"Do you reckon that was can ask McGonagall?" Peter asked," Like when we wanted to know about the Animagus transformation? Should we just ask a bunch of 'hypothetical' questions?"

"Pretty sure that she saw right through that last time," James muttered as he folded up the map and hid it in the bottom of his trunk - before charming it locked so Harry couldn't go through it like he had done at the end of last year," I mean, we all just started talking at her and she did that odd knowing smile thing she does when she knows that we're lying."

"She helped us anyway, James," Sirius reminded him," Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." He turned to Remus and gently coaxed him to eat some of the snacks that had been hidden in the room specifically for the days before a full moon. 

"Not McGonagall then," Peter said," Flitwick, maybe? He's the Charms Master - he'll know what to do."

James nodded and they both turned to look at Sirius - who was still hand feeding Remus some snacks to keep his stomach settled. He noticed them staring after a few minutes before glaring at his friends when he realised what they wanted.

"Oh no," He said," I'm not doing it!"

"Come on Sirius!" Peter said," Out of the four of us, you're Flitwick's favourite!"

"Why can't James do it?!" Sirius groaned.

James rolled his eyes. "I did most of the work with McGonagall."

"Peter - mate, please," Sirius begged.

"You couldn't pay me enough," Peter deadpanned," Merlin knows that I'm helpless with Charms - it'll only raise more questions then we need."

"Please, Sirius?" Remus said softly. He had been mostly silent for most of the conversation - saving his strength for when he needed it during the transformation the following night. Clearly, it had all been a distraction so he could whip out his secret weapon without his boyfriend expecting it.

"Merlin," Sirius muttered," Is the whole puppy dog eyes something you inherit after getting bitten by a werewolf or were you just born with them?"

"Please?"

"Oh, alright fine!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air," I'll see what I can do - no promises though."

* * *

Hermione sat in the library and turned a page in her book absentmindedly. Narcissa seemed to be doing the same thing while also muttering under her breath and cursing the day that Gilderoy Lockhart had been born.

They had been having a study session with Bella - who had loudly proclaimed that ' _you two don't even need to study so early on in the term, it's barely the third day_ '. It had been going well and, surprisingly, Bellatrix was quite a patient teacher, although nowhere near as good as Andi was. But, alas, they couldn't have asked Andi because she was talking to Madam Pomfrey about letting her help in the infirmary as some sort of work experience.

Hermione sighed and pushed the book away from her slightly. It was surprising that she had no interest in studying. Her mind was lying elsewhere and her thoughts were running around her head in circles. Thankfully though, both Narcissa and Bellatrix were both absorbed in their own work and hadn't noticed that Hermione wasn't really paying attention.

No matter what she did, her mind kept circling back to Tonks. She wasn't entirely sure why Tonks was in her thoughts and it was beginning to get a bit confusing. Hermione had seen the girl around school in the corridors a few times since their first meeting and the other girl always seemed to greet her with a happy smile and a wave - before tripping over her own feet as they passed each other.

Hermione would return the waves and the smiles - but not the falling over - and then they would both go about their days. They hadn't had Herbology yet so Hermione had yet to see her in class and there was an odd part of her that was looking forward to, which she thought was utterly ridiculous because she mostly shied away from social interaction especially with somebody who she had exchanged only a few words with.

She sighed and shoved her book away from her - glaring at the cover so intently that it could have caught fire from her stare alone.

"Mia?" Bellatrix asked, brow furrowed in confusion," What are you doing?"

Hermione looked up from her book - a flush crawling up her face. "N-Nothing!" Her voice came out more high pitched than she wanted it to but Narcissa and Bella didn't mention it - just shrugging after exchanging a look with the other. " I, er, I'm just a bit distracted today - that's all."

They still didn't look convinced but didn't push her to explain, settling back into reading their books. Or, Narcissa read her books while Bellatrix leaned back on the legs of her chair and charmed a feather to fly around the their study area.

"That's it."

Both Hermione and Bellatrix jolted in shock as Narcissa slammed her book closed.

"I've had enough," She said," I've had enough of Lockhart and his stupid books! There's nothing in them that even remotely teaches me anything that will be in the OWLs!"

Hermione didn't blame her in the slightest. She had had another class with Lockhart a few hours ago and it had gone horribly wrong. Neville Longbottom had ended up hanging from the chandelier and Lavender Brown had been smothered in a writhing mass of pixies. Of course, Lockhart had been no help and had disappeared into his office as soon as he lost control of the class. So, it had been up to Pansy, Daphne and Hermione to get everything under control - with Harry and Ron acting as emotional support.

"You've got another year before your OWLs, Cissy," Bella reminded her sister, going back to rocking on the back two chair legs," Lockhart will up and gone in a few months anyway - that fraud never stays in one place too long."

"I don't care," Narcissa crossed her arms over her chest and pouted," I can't stand being in the same castle as him! Do you think that Father will let us transfer to Beauxbatons?"

"Cissy," Bellatrix said," If you want to transfer then, by all means, go ahead. But I'm staying right here."

"That's only because you're into Amelia Bones which, by the way Bella, is never going to happen. She has _morals,_ there's no way that she'd ever be into you."

Bellatrix just scowled. "That's what you think," She muttered before raising her voice," Either way - I'm not moving to Beauxbatons wth you and neither will Andi."

Narcissa rolled her eyes before turning to Hermione with a pout on her face and her blue eyes shining. "Will you come with me to Beauxbatons?"

"I'm not sure what that is," Hermione replied truthfully.

"It's the French wizarding school," Bellatrix explained," Father gave us all the option of going there - none of us did, of course."

"Will you, Mia?" Narcissa asked," Oh - please. It'll be so much better - I heard that they have ice sculptures during the winter and wood nymphs serenade them as they eat!"

Hermione chuckled before rolling her eyes - all thoughts of her odd behaviour towards Tonks completely forgotten. "I'll have to pass on that, I'm afraid," She replied," I don't think my parents or Lily will be very happy with me if I disappear to France every year."

Narcissa looked pensive for a moment before she snapped her fingers. "We'll just have to fake your death," She said with the utmost seriousness.

Hermione exchanged a look with Bellatrix - who slowly moved Narcissa's books away from her. "Right then," Bella said," I think all of this studying has addled your mind. It's probably best if we stop now. No more studying and none of this talk about faking Mia's death and spiriting her away to Beauxbatons."

"And why am I not surprised that the infamous Bellatrix Black isn't doing any studying?" The sharp voice of Amelia Bones had Bellatrix grinning like a wolf.

Hermione didn't know much about Amelia Bones - only the bare details. She was sixth year; she was Hufflepuff; she had a younger sibling in Hermione's year; she had an older brother who had already graduated and she wanted to join the Aurors. Hermione also knew that Amelia Bones had been the long-time crush of Bella - apparently, as Andromeda had said, the crush had been going on ever since first year when Amelia hexed Bella in the hallways after a prank went wrong.

"Amy!" Bella exclaimed before putting on a roguish grin," Can I call you Amy?"

"No."

"Oh, Amy!" She continued," You wound my heart - you're lucky that I love you so much."

Amelia scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Well," She said primly," I don't like you in the slightest."

"Only a matter of time until I get you all hot and bothered looking at me," Bellatrix replied, her eyes darkening and her lips quirking up into a cocky smirk," Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."

Amelia scowled before flicking her hair off of her shoulder. "Whatever," She scoffed," The only reason that I'm here is to tell you-"

"Oh? So you admit that you're looking for me, huh? I knew that I'd started to chip away that cold shell that you keep your heart in."

"- that Flitwick wants you to join the Duelling Club."

Bellatrix quirked an eyebrow. "Will you be there?"

"Of course," Amelia replied," I need the recommendation to get into Auror training."

"Then I'll be there," Bella said," I'll see you then, love."

* * *

Hermione stretched her arms out above her head and moved her book to the side. She had been combing through the book from Flourish and Blotts for a while now - in case it held any extra secrets that she hadn't fully understood. She had also taken Professor Dumbledore's advice from earlier and scrounged through shelf nine and was pleased when several of the referenced texts from the original book was waiting for her to find.

But, her mind wasn't really co-operating with her at the moment and she pushed all of the books on her bed away from her - staring at their closed covers in a mixture of annoyance and confusion. Annoyance because she really needed to read them and confusion because she knew the reason that she wasn't reading them but couldn't understand why her mind kept wandering back to Tonks.

She sighed and glanced around the room.

Narcissa was curled up on Andromeda's bed. They were both going through a few of the old prescribed Defence Against the Dark Arts textbooks - the ones that had been used before Lockhart made them all buy his books. Andi was lying on her stomach over the blankets - furiously scrawling on a piece of parchment as her other hand flipped pages at such a rapid speed that made Hermione wondered if she was even reading what was written down.

Bellatrix was kneeling on the floor at the foot of her bed as she rummaged through her open trunk - throwing items of clothing out of it. 

"I mean," She said," She practically asked me out on a date!"

"Not a date, Bella," Narcissa repeated again," She told you that Flitwick wants you to join the Duelling Club."

Bella just shrugged. "I can read between the lines."

"What lines?" Narcissa scoffed," She barely said more than a few sentences to you."

"You don't understand," Bellatrix replied," It's a hot-and-cold routine. I confess my undying love and she pretends to hate it! One day - just you wait! One day, I'll wear her down!"

Hermione rolled her eyes but didn't get involved. Instead, as Narcissa and Bellatrix bickered about what Amelia had meant, Hermione glanced out of the window. The full moon was high in the sky and, briefly, Hermione wondered where Remus was staying the night. She still wasn't entirely sure where the teachers sent him during his transformations and, truthfully, she kind of wanted to know - if only so she could avoid it like the plague if she were to ever take a midnight stroll during a full moon which, in all honesty, wasn't likely but it was better to be prepared.

She glanced back at the room.

Narcissa and Bellatrix were still squabbling. It had escalated a bit though because both girls were standing up. They weren't exactly yelling but both of their voices had taken a hard edge that Hermione was glad hadn't been directed at her.

"Both of you," Andromeda said through gritted teeth," Be quiet - if you can't play nice then stop talking to each other." She sat back up and placed her book and her piece of parchment back onto her bedside table. She glared at both of her sisters as they narrowed their eyes at each other before both returning to their own beds.

"I know that I'm right," Narcissa muttered under her breath as she moved to her side of the room. Her voice was barely low enough for Hermione to hear her and, thankfully, Bella and Andi had been to far away to hear what had been said.

"Mia," Andi called out," Lights out in a few minutes - I don't want you reading too late."

Hermione just shrugged. "Okay," She said and it was clear that Andromeda thought that she was going to get more of a fight because confusion was evident on her face. "I'm done anyway."

* * *

Padfoot barked happily, wagging his tail as he leapt over a nearby log on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.

Prongs was resting nearby, legs folded under his body as Wormtail rested on his shoulder. It had been a while since they had done this together but it was a much needed respite that they had begun to crave since they first started. Besides, it was only a short separation and Padfoot was more than happy to be back at the forest.

Moony had disappeared a few minutes ago, skulking off deeper into the forest to go hunting for some food. Moony was odd like that sometimes. He had never once attacked Padfoot or Prongs or Wormtail but, occasionally, he would disappear off into the woods without any of them so he could go and hunt for something. Sometimes it was a hippogriff or a doe (never a stag, though) or something smaller than both of those creatures.

Padfoot had long learnt to leave Moony to it when he got into one of those moods. While he hadn't ever attacked Padfoot, he had certainly growled and snapped at him on the occasions when Padfoot had tried to follow him during his odd hunting nights.

From then on, Padfoot knew not to follow him.

Padfoot barked again, jumping around wildly near Prongs and Wormtail.

Wormtail gave him an unimpressed look before scurrying off of Prongs when the stag rose to his feet.

Prongs stood to tall. Even though he was yet to be fully grown, he still towered over Padfoot - who bent down low to the ground and barked in challenge. Prongs expelled a small huff of air before lowering his head and shaking his head in warning - one foot moving to kick the dirt.

His antlers had grown since the last time that they had done this and they made an impressive sight - gleaming slightly in the moonlight as they sat atop his head like crown. They didn't look overly sharp and wouldn't break any skin although they could certainly still hurt Padfoot if things went wrong.

But, the danger was part of the game and Padfoot leaned closer to the ground again and snapped his jaws.

Prongs struck first.

With no warning given, he stampeded forward - antlers lowered to the ground as he did so.

Padfoot leapt out of his way, light on his feet before circling back. He aimlessly swiped at Prongs' haunches before dancing out of range - a hair's breadth away from being struck by the antlers that had whirled around to knock him off of his feet. 

Dust was kicked up from the ground as the two continued to play and Wormtail squeaked his support from the side-lines.

The moon was just beginning to set when the breeze picked up for a fleeting moment and all three of them spared a glance towards the forest.

Prongs froze.

Wormtail stilled.

Padfoot growled.

Moony was howling - a deep sound that didn't even get to finish before it tapered off into a sharp, guttural whine of pain.


	4. Chapter 4

"He is so hopeless," Pansy muttered as she watched with an amused expression as Neville Longbottom put in the wrong amount of puffer-fish eyes into his swelling solution.

"Leave him alone," Hermione replied," It's not his fault - it's not like anybody actually likes this lesson."

Daphne made a noise of agreement as she added a bat spleen to her potion. "Slughorn is totally crazy," She murmured," Have you heard of that crappy 'Slug Club' thing that he's doing for the sixth and seventh years?"

"Yeah," Hermione said as she continued to stir her mixture," He managed to nab Andi and he tried to grab Bella as well but I think that she scared him off."

Pansy grinned before letting out a small bark of laughter. She fell silent though when Slughorn came lumbering past - glancing over their potions before disappearing with a nod of approval.

"Good, good girls," He said in passing and Hermione exchanged a look with Pansy and Daphne before they all went back to their work.

"Did you hear about that scandal about Dirk Cresswell in Witch Weekly? He was in Slughorn's stupid club." Pansy asked as she continued stirring her solution.

"Don't be daft, Pans," Daphne said," You know that I don't read Witch Weekly - Mother says that it's all utter crap anyway."

Hermione smothered her laughter as she went back to the supply cupboard. She didn't need anything for herself (Druella, during their trip at Diagon Alley, had given Hermione more than enough potions ingredients to last for the rest of her time at Hogwarts) but she picked them up nonetheless.

She took the long way back to her table and dumped the extra ingredients onto Longbottom's table. "Stir counter clockwise," She said in passing - not looking at the boy. He flashed her a grateful smile and she shrugged in return.

"You're too nice for your own good," Daphne said when she had returned to their table - letting the mixture cool down.

"It's not really being nice," Hermione replied," More than it's making sure that the mistake isn't made again."

Pansy made a face. "Merlin, you sound just like Narcissa Black."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "We sleep in the same room," She deadpanned," I'm bound to pick up some things - just be glad that I haven't picked up Bella's tendency to set things on fire."

Pansy shuddered and Hermione let a rare, self-satisfied look show on her face.

* * *

"Why is everybody in this room crushing on somebody?!" Narcissa demanded as soon as she walked into their dorm room," I've had enough of it!" She dumped her bags onto her bed and turned to glare at her older sisters.

Hermione's book dropped from her hand and her face suddenly felt flushed. Her heart beat erratically in her chest as she tried to work out how Narcissa knew about her growing crush on Tonks when, Hermione herself, was still trying to make sense of her odd emotions towards the girl.

"Wh-What?" She managed to squeak out - voice embarrassingly high-pitched.

Narcissa glanced at her and fixed her with a patient smile. "I didn't mean you, of course, Mia darling. I meant Bella and Andi - they've become completely insufferable! It's always 'Ted Tonks' this or 'Amelia Bones' that! Don't you two have anything better to be doing with your lives?!"

Andromeda immediately leapt on the defensive as she tried (quite unsuccessfully) to make it seem like her crush on Ted Tonks was nothing of the sort.

Hermione could barely hear her as she took several steadying breaths. She didn't know whether or not she was glad that her crush hadn't been found out. The emotions she felt were all kinds of overwhelming and, while she knew that talking to somebody was probably the right course of action, she also didn't want the embarrassment that came with more people finding out.

"You said 'everybody'," Bellatrix commented as she sauntered closer to her sister's bed - cutting off Andromeda's impassioned spiel. The corners of her mouth had quirked up into a teasing smile as she jabbed her little sister with her finger. "Does that include you?"

"Shut up!" Narcissa said, sending her a glare," Of course it doesn't!"

"Ooh, it does!"

"Shut up," She snapped.

"Is it possibly Dorcas Meadowes?"

Narcissa's wand was in her hand in an instant and Hermione barely had time to understand what spell she had muttered before Bellatrix was sent flying across the room - hitting her bedside table. She stayed motionless for a few seconds before she groaned loudly and reached up to cradle her head - muttering swear words that, thankfully, Andi hadn't heard.

When Bellatrix finally stood up, she was slightly dazed but her face held a smug smile.

She winked at Hermione and whispered," Definitely Meadowes."

* * *

Andromeda Black wasn't scared of anything.

She never had nightmares, she was never freaked out by anything. She was sisters with Bellatrix Black - which basically made her immune to practically any type of fear possible - which was why, she was decidedly _not_ scared for her study date with Ted Tonks.

Of course, if somebody were to ask Bellatrix or Narcissa about that little fact then they would have said something completely different but that was neither here nor there.

The truth of the matter was that, as Andromeda Black weaved her way through the stacks of books in the library, her hands were shaking so much that she could scarcely hold her textbooks without nearly dropping them. Her throat had constricted slightly and her heart was thundering in her chest.

But, she wouldn't say that she was scared - she would describe herself as _worried._

"Hiya, Andi," Ted said when he saw her - flashing Andromeda a sweet smile that had her heart thumping even harder in her chest.

"Hi Ted," She replied - almost breathing out a sigh of relief when her voice didn't shake - as she elegantly slipped into the seat next to him.

He beamed at her and Andi's heart missed a beat as she flashed him her own smile.

If Bellatrix or Narcissa had walked past at that moment, then they would have had good fun laughing and mocking Andromeda on just how red and nervous she was.

"I was thinking that we could start on Herbology first," Ted said as he pushed one of his textbooks towards her with that happy smile on his face.

Andromeda didn't know whether or not she should have been happy or worried that many of their NEWT classes matched on their timetables. Andi, striving to become a Healer, had chosen five NEWTs (Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Defence and Charms) while Ted wanted to be a Cursebreaker and had chosen to do Arithmancy, Defence, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology - the last one only because he had a love for the subject.

"Y-Yeah!" Andromeda's voice went embarrassingly high pitched and she was glad that Ted didn't bring attention to it, just nodding before flipping to the right page of his textbook and taking out his notes from the lesson.

It was roughly five minutes later that Ted spoke again.

Andromeda had been bouncing her leg up and down in nervousness at being in such close proximity to her crush and had been doing little work. Her book wasn't even open on the right page and no ink stained her parchment, her inkwell hadn't been opened at all, and her hands were all sweaty - a far cry from the perfect daughter of the House of Black that she had been raised to be.

"My sister bumped into your sister a few days ago," Ted said, not looking up from his parchment as he worked.

Andi jolted slightly and cleared her voice. "W-Which sister?"

"Hermione? I think?" He replied, finally looking up and fixing Andi with a soft smile that had her heart thumping in her chest. "I thought that you only had two sisters."

"I do...kind of," She replied," It's all complicated legal stuff. Do you know about sponsorships outside of school?"

"Oh, yeah," Ted said," The Bones family are going to sponsor me if I get enough NEWTs to be a Cursebreaker."

Andromeda nodded. "Exactly," She said," Mia - Hermione, that is - her situation is similar. Except, instead of sponsoring her, my parents are having her become our Ward - which basically means that she's family in all but name, although she can take that if she so wishes. She'll get share of inheritance as well - it makes her a sister as well."

Ted listened to her explanation with a smile, nodding along.

"I see," He said," That's cool - you're welcome to take my sister as well. Merlin knows that Dora is too much of a troublemaker for me to handle."

Andi snorted. "We'll see," She said," Hey, can you explain question nine? I'm kind of confused."

"Oh!" Ted exclaimed, going a little red as he shuffled around the table to sit next to her, pulling the piece of parchment closer," Yeah, sure!"

* * *

Hermione yawned as she approached Gryffindor Tower.

Lessons had ended for the day and she hadn't seen Remus all day - even during meals - so she had made her way up to the Gryffindor dorms so she could deliver his monthly bag of chocolate that she usually gave him the day after a full moon. Now that she thought of it, it was a bit odd to have not seen Remus at all. He didn't take days off of school even if he was sick and, as she was going through that train of thought, none of the other Marauders had been at the Gryffindor table either which meant one of two things. One, they were all planning something so horrific and horrible that they all needed to hide before the prank was enacted or something bad had happened that had them all - in some way or another - out of commission.

The painting blocking the tower flung forward and Hermione was almost knocked off of her feet.

Peter reached out to steady her and she flashed him a smile in thanks.

"Is Remus in there?" She asked.

Peter paled slightly - brow furrowed in a mixture of confusion and uncomfortableness - and he swallowed thickly.

"Remus?" He asked," Why do you want to see Remus?"

"I'm here to give him some chocolate," Hermione lifted the bag in her hands," I know that full moons are hard for him."

"You know?" Peter hissed, looking around to the side wildly as if somebody as eavesdropping.

"Know what?" Hermione asked, slightly unnerved as she wondered if she had stumbled into something that she shouldn't have," About Remus' furry problem? Yeah - I've known for ages."

"Have-Have you told anyone?"

Hermione gave him a pointed look. "I may be a kid but I'm not stupid. No, I haven't told anyone."

Peter breathed out a sigh of relief before he inclined his head for Hermione to follow him. She furrowed her brow as she scurried after him, falling into line next to Peter as he lead her through the school. They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Where are we going?" She asked," Is he not in the Tower? Do you just want me to give you the chocolate and you can take it to him?"

Peter shook his head as he walked - rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Er...He, well - stuff happened and I-I reckon that," He stuttered," Just, stuff happened last night and I suppose that you should probably see for yourself."

"What happened?" Hermione asked. A sense of dread seeped into her bones at Peter's nervousness. Any number of things could have gone wrong with Remus' transformation last night and Hermione's mind conjured up every horrible thing that could have happened - slowly getting worse and worse until she had to squeeze her eyes closed tightly to rid her mind of the images.

Peter shrugged and chewed on his bottom lip. "That's the, er- That's the thing, we're not entirely sure. It's just...It's better that you see for yourself, okay? I can't talk about it without wanting to throw up."

Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat but refrained from asking anymore questions. Silence descended again but it was notably more tense than before. She didn't ask anymore questions and Peter didn't offer up anymore explanations.

She didn't know whether or not that was better or worse because her mind started conjuring up those images again and Hermione wasn't entirely sure how to combat them this time.

She didn't even realise that they had arrived until Peter pushed open the doors to the infirmary.

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath at what she saw.

James was leaning against the wall. His eyes were red and puffy - evidence that he had been crying - and his hands were clenched into fists at his side, shaking slightly as he stared at the bed opposite him. Sirius was sitting next to it. He was openly weeping and Hermione got the idea that he had been there all day. His hair was a tangled mess - a far cry from its usual neatness - and his clothes were all wrinkled like he hadn't changed them in a while.

Remus was the one sleeping on the bed - barely breathing and covered in his own blood.


	5. Chapter 5

When Remus woke up again, it was to bright lights and a sore throat.

He wasn't aware of much other than the pounding in his head and the slight trembling of his hand when he raised it to touch his throat.

"Remus?" A tentative (and completely heartbroken) voice said from his side.

He stirred a bit more - ignoring the ache that was so customary after a full moon - and tried to sit up, only for several sets of arms to push him back down onto the bed. He blinked a few more times before coming to the strange realisation that he was lying on a hospital bed under threadbare sheets that were not his own.

He turned his head to the side and expelled a lungful of breath.

Sirius was sitting next to him - worry clouding his handsome features and his hands still firmly planted on Remus' shoulders, pressing down to keep him pinned to the bed. James was hovering over his shoulder. He looked more well rested than Sirius did but Remus could still see the bags under his eyes. He glanced to his other side - to where Peter was standing, his hands still on Remus' shoulders as well. He looked the most alert out of them all but his clothes were all crumpled and messy.

"Did they catch you with the Animagi thing?" Remus' voice was scratchy and hoarse and he reached up to touch his throat again.

Sirius burst into tears at the sound and practically flung himself out of his seat and onto the bed. James fixed him with a patient (if not a little strained) smile before moving closer.

"You've been in and out of consciousness for nearly two days," He said," And the first thing that you ask is if the school worked out we did something highly illegal?"

Remus paused for just long enough for Sirius to coax water down his throat before he spoke. "Did you?"

"No," James replied," We just told me them that we were sneaking out and mucking around - two weeks detention as soon as you've recovered."

"Sorry."

Sirius sat up from where he was lying with his head on Remus' chest. "Don't apologise," He said. Tears were streaming down his face but his tone held a sharp edge. As much as Remus loathed to compare it, it was similar to the tone that Sirius' father often used when one of his sons had done something to annoy him. "It's not your fault." Sirius moved his hand up to cup his boyfriend's face. "Are you okay?"

"I will be."

Sirius scowled. "No," He said," Are you okay, _now?_ Do you need me to get you more water, food - anything you need?"

"A hug would be nice," Remus replied - a smile straining his face.

"For you?" Sirius smiled as well," It's not much of a chore." He climbed onto the bed even more and pulled Remus closer to him while James pretended to make gagging noises.

"Do you remember what happened?" Peter asked softly.

Remus' brow wrinkled. He shook his head. "No...just...I don't think we should go back to the Forbidden Forest anymore - there's something in there."

James was just about to ask more when Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. She held a rolled up Daily Prophet in one hand, which she used to swat Sirius on the head, and her wand in the other.

"Need I remind you, Mr Black," She said once Sirius had nearly fallen off the bed in his haste to escape her hits," That this is the hospital wing - not a hotel room. Please refrain from bothering my patient again."

Sirius opened his mouth to argue but, seeing the way that Madam Pomfrey brandished the rolled up newspaper, refrained from speaking.

Satisfied, Pomfrey nodded, dropped the paper onto the bedside table before turning to Remus. "You gave us quite the scare, Mr Lupin," She said as she moved her wand in a complicated manner," We had to put you in a stasis spell just to stop the screaming and moving."

Remus couldn't hold her gaze and looked down to where he had tightened his hands around the bedsheets.

Madam Pomfrey hummed at whatever the spell revealed before she moved to unwrap the bandage on Remus' leg. He hadn't even noticed it until he saw what the nurse was doing. He swallowed thickly as he looked down at it.

The wound was leaking blood and festering - smelling sharply of belladonna.

* * *

"Did you hear about Remus?" Marlene asked as she sat in front of her vanity table and pulled a hairbrush through her long golden hair.

"Oh yeah," Mary said from where she was lying on her stomach on her bed," It's absolutely terrible. How did he even get injured in the night anyway?"

"James and Sirius probably," Dorcas piped up. She was sitting on the floor, her back resting on the trunk at the foot of her bed. She was painting her nails, methodically trailing the brush over them before blowing, ducking the brush back into the bottle and repeating it again for another coat. "They're always getting Remus and Peter into trouble."

Lily snorted from her spot on her bed. She had a book on her lap as her charmed radio filmed the room with whatever song was being played on the Wizarding Wireless Network. "It's funny that you think that Remus isn't the one coming up with the pranks."

Mary raised her eyebrows. "Really?" She asked, sitting upright with a stunned expression on her face," He always seems so..."

"Mature? Helpful? Straight-laced?" Marlene offered.

Mary snorted. "The word 'straight' shouldn't be put into a sentence about Remus," She said," But yes, all of those things. He doesn't seem like the type of person to play pranks."

"The prank where all of the cutlery got stuck to the ceiling of the Great Hall?" Lily said," Yeah, that was all Remus' doing - a simple levitation charm fixed with Muggle magnetism. It's not as difficult as you think." She turned a page in her book and rolled her eyes at the shocked look that her friends gave her.

"Well," Dorcas said after recovering from her shock," Either way, it's shit luck what happened to him - it's not even the second week of term yet." She applied the nail polish to another toe. "What do you think happened?"

Marlene hummed in contemplation for a moment before shrugging. "No idea," She said finally," But, knowing those four? Nothing good."

Mary nodded in agreement and Lily tilted her head to the side. She pushed off her blankets and slammed her book closed in a practiced motion before standing. Marlene raised a brow at her in confusion.

"Hermione has a soft spot for Remus," She announced to the room," She probably knows what happened. Should I go see her and ask?"

Marlene, Mary and Dorcas all exchanged a look with another. They should have known that Lily would find an excuse to her sister again once she had reverted back to her overprotective nature after spending a few months with Hermione back home. "No Lily," They groaned in a practiced motion.

* * *

"Can anybody tell me what these plants are and their uses?" Professor Sprout asked on their first Herbology lesson of the year.

Hermione studied the plant in front of her.

_Green stalk._

_Green leaves._

_Purple flowers._

She had seen it before in one of Lily's old textbooks. She racked her brain for what it was called before putting her hand up.

"Fluxweed," She said after being called upon.

"Good," Professor Sprout said," Take five points for Slytherin. Can you tell me its uses?"

"Primarily used in Polyjuice potion as a catalyst for the body changing properties of the potion." She paused for a moment. "As well as in healing potions - to stabilise wounds that are dark in nature and won't stop bleeding."

Professor Sprout nodded. "Take an extra ten points for Slytherin," She said and Daphne and Pansy clapped Hermione on the back - not at all surprised that the girl knew the answers. "Now these are mature shoots of Fluxweed and, as such, we're going to be working on taking clippings so we can make more. Nothing dangerous this time - no need for dragonhide gloves, put those away." She grabbed one of the nearby pots, demonstrating the way to twist a leaf correctly before snipping it with the clipping shears. "Four to a pot," She said," Cast a _Protego_ against the elements and then store it one of the dark, dry places that you can find. Now, off you go in pairs or threes. Chop, chop!"

Before Daphne and Pansy could ask Hermione to join their group, Tonks stepped away from the other Hufflepuffs. She smiled and shrugged. "Want to pair up?"

Hermione was helpless to say no and they both moved to a work bench where a pot was waiting for them.

"I'll handle the cutting and you doing the planting?" Tonks offered. She picked up the clipping shears only to drop them a second later. They landed on the ground and, only due to her reflexes, Tonks jumped backwards so they wouldn't land on her toes. Her hair went the same red colour as her cheeks in embarrassment.

Hermione grinned at her - stomach doing somersaults - and bent down to pick up the shears. "Or," She said as she stood up again," I'll do the cutting and you do the planting?"

Tonks nodded. Her hair remained red for several seconds before turning back to bubble-gum pink. "Yeah," She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck," That would probably be best."

They worked in sync with each other. Hermione would cut off leaves and Tonks would plant four in a pot, cast a protection charm before moving onto the next pot. The routine was done with ease and soon all twenty-four of their clippings were done and put away in the darkest part of the greenhouse. Once they had finished, they returned to their work station. Tonks hopped on top of it, sitting down - uncaring for the amount of soil that still littered the table.

She pumped her fists into the air before pulling Hermione into a hug. "We did it!" She cried," We finished early and everything!" Her hair went several shades of purple. "I've never finished early before! How cool is that?! We make such a great team!" She loosened her grip and Hermione pulled away with a bright red face.

Tonks frowned at her. She slipped off the table before drawing Hermione closer. She placed her cheek against the older girl's forehead - causing Hermione to go even redder than before and made butterflies flutter in her stomach.

"Huh," Tonks said as she withdrew," You don't have a fever."

* * *

Hermione only had one thought on her mind as she stormed into the Common Room. Regulus gave her a wide birth when he saw the confused and conflicted look on her face and allowed her to walk straight past him and into her dorm room.

The door was slammed shut behind her and Hermione froze in the doorway at what she saw.

Narcissa was sitting by her vanity table - which, in and of itself, wasn't strange. The strange part was that she was cursing the mirror in front of her. Each spell was broken up by screamed expletives that had Hermione frozen in place. Lying on her bed, was Bellatrix - who was howling quite loudly in laughter as she watched Narcissa with rapt attention.

"What...?"

"Oh! Hey Mia!" Bellatrix cackled as she sat up," You've come right in time - Cissy is ten minutes away from breaking the mirror. It's going to be hilarious!"

Hermione wasn't really listening as she flopped down onto her bed face first. Her words were slightly muffled by her pillows but both Narcissa and Bellatrix heard her clearly. "Bella, how did you know that you were a lesbian?"

Bella, in all her glory, fell off her bed the moment the words made sense in her mind. Even Cissa stopped her hexing at the mirror to glance at the other side of the room in a mixture of shock and confusion.

She and Bella rose in sync and padded closer to Hermione. "Why?"

Hermione's quiet reply came a moment later. "No reason."

Narcissa exchanged a look with her older sister before sitting at Hermione's side. "Mia," She said," You can talk to us about this kind of stuff. It's what we're here for."

Bellatrix nodded even though Hermione couldn't see her before sitting by her other side. "Let's look at this logically," She said - sounding more gentle then she ever had before," Do you still or have ever liked boys?"

Hermione turned over on her side and stared at the stone wall in front of her. "I had a crush on Max Tugwell in Year Four."

"Right," Bellatrix said, nodding slightly as the gears in her mind turned," Cool - Cissy?"

"What?"

"Hermione thinks that she likes boys and girls - that's your wheelhouse."

Narcissa sighed and shot Bellatrix an exasperated look. "Why yes, thank you Bella - as if I didn't recognise that before." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm. She moved closer to Hermione, patting her shoulder. Her tone softened. "Why do you think that you like this girl?" She asked," What are some of the symptoms?"

Hermione moved onto her side and stared up at Narcissa. "My-My stomach," She said after several seconds of quiet," It starts fluttering when I see her."

"A good fluttery?" Narcissa prompted," Like butterflies? Or the bad kind of fluttery - like before you have a panic attack?"

"T-The good fluttery...I think."

Narcissa hummed and she occupied herself with brushing the hair out of Hermione's face. "That does sound like a little crush," She said," And, let me guess, you can't help but smile whenever you see this girl?"

Hermione nodded against her.

"Don't feel like that you need to label yourself this early," Bellatrix said, moving a bit closer to join into the odd hug that Hermione and Narcissa had created," Just...I don't know? Get a feel of your emotions and wait it out for a bit? I mean...we still love you either way and so does Andi. The wizarding world believes that love is just as fluid as magic. Love is love, you know and..." She trailed off for a moment when she saw the amused look that Narcissa and Hermione were giving her. She chuckled and reached a hand up to rub the back of her neck in embarrassment. "I was rambling, huh?" She said," Good advice isn't really my thing, you know?"

Hermione just smiled at her. "You know," She said," At this point, I think that was exactly what I needed to hear."


End file.
